Gerard John Schaefer

Demographic Info

Gerard John Schaefer was born on March 25, 1946, in Wisconsin. He was born the first of three children. Schaefer was raised in Atlanta, Georgia and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1960. In Schaefer’s youth, he was known to be a peeping tom and admitted to have killed animals. After he graduated from high school he went into college to become a teacher. Schaefer became a teacher, but was later fired for inappropriate behavior. He later wanted to become a priest, but was rejected and instead pursued a career in law enforcement. In March of 1972, Schaefer was fired from his patrolman position. During his murder series, while on patrol, Schaefer picked up 2 teenage girls, abducted them and tied them to trees in the woods. When he received a call on his police radio he left the girls in the woods. They escaped and ran to the nearest police station. Although Schaefer tried to create excuses, he was stripped of his badge and charged with false imprisonment and assault.

It is believed that Schaefer began his murder series in 1966, at the age of 20, and ended in 1973. His known murder series began in 1973. All of his known and suspected victims were females between the ages of 8 and 22. Schaefer would torture and rape his victims before he murdered them. At one point during his murder series he was known to have started murdering 2 victims at a time. He believed that this made the killing more exciting. He was known to take many totems from his victims, which were found after his arrest. The remains of many of his suspected victims have yet to be discovered.

In 1973, Schaefer was arrested for the murders of two women. Police were able to get a search warrant because of the similarities between his prior arrest and the victims that were discovered. In his bedroom, police were able to find stories about his murders, jewelry, diaries and many other personal possessions. In October of 1973, Schaefer was found guilty for committing 2 murders and was sentenced to two life sentences. On December, 1995, he was stabbed to death in his cell. Although he was found guilty of two murders, Schaefer is suspected to have been involved in over 30 murders.

Blog Posts

Gerard John Schaefer was found guilty for committing two murders. We currently have information on his known victims and thirteen of his suspected victims. Nancy Leichner Nancy, age 21, disappeared with her friend, Pamela Nater, in 1966, from Ocala National Forest. Her remains have not been discovered. Schaefer is a suspect…